September 9, 2007

Gabcast

I discovered Gabcast last week accidently whilst trying to find AudioBlogger for Blogger, which apparently no longer exists.

Gabcast allows you to post a voice recording to your blog or the Gabcast site using a phone.  There is an RSS feed for your account, so others can subscribe to your recordings.

Gabcast

Examples on the Gabcast site have people phoning in messages from trips round the world. You are provided with a phone number in the UK, and enter your account number and passkey before recording your message.  It was very simple to use.

Thinking as a teacher, Gabcast could be used when on Geography field trips to update parents on the events of the day whilst away.  It could be used to record a learning journey, recording what a class or group has learnt during the day.

School sports teams could phone in match reports after games.  Language teachers could record messages as though they were a spy for students to listen to and decipher using the target language.

It might also be an interesting way of logging homework or reminders for students.

The teacher can control the posts by ensuring they keep the passkey unknown and change it frequently to stop students phoning in their own messages.  If it is just a teacher using this account it would be straight forward to maintain the security of those posting to the account.

E-safety concerns would require students and staff using this to be aware that no student should be identifiable from the recording - so first names only.

* Filed by Paul at 6:11 pm under blogging, internet, mp3, web tools
No Comments

May 22, 2007

Using Mediamaster to embed mp3s

Sometime last week I came across Mediamaster. I was looking for a way of embedding mp3s in my portal page and had a search through Google. I came across Imeem first - this allowed me to embed a widget that would play back an mp3. This would have been fine except the file I loaded wouldn’t play when embedded. With so many free tools out there, if it doesn’t work first time I frequently move on to the next thing.

Mediamaster worked first time - always a bonus. What I liked was the simple way I could upload mp3s and embed a widget. I was using Studywiz a lot last week and found this to be very simple in a multi-content resource. It also worked in RM’s Portal+ and PBWiki. In fact this page is the only place I’ve found it difficult to embed the widget - hence it’s not here.

Mediamaster saves the need for students to download mp3s and then play them - simply clicking on track in the widget will play it. This could be a useful tool for adding MFL content to learning platforms or portal pages. I could record myself or students talking in the target language. I could pose questions relating to the files. My iPod or memory stick with a mic could record students or myself. It becomes easy to share these files.

It would also be an effective way of sharing student performances in school.

Below is a quick tutorial on using Mediamaster with Studywiz.

<embed src=”http://www.teachertube.com/flvplayer.swf” FlashVars=”config=http://www.teachertube.com/flvplayer.php?viewkey=f47269ed5cea9f625f7a&vimg=http://www.teachertube.com/thumb/1_1778.jpg” quality=”high” bgcolor=”#000000″ wmode=”transparent” width=”400″ height=”350″ loop=”false” align=”middle” allowScriptAccess=”sameDomain” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” pluginspage=”http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer”> </embed>

* Filed by Paul at 5:33 am under embed, free stuff, internet, mp3, online storage, web tools
No Comments